A Brief History of wine

The wine has a long history ten thousand years ...Were the Sumerians to grow grapes in the area between Turkey and Iraq, and to discover the fermentation of must also be exporting the product: from tables found that in the sixth century BC King Nebuchadnezzar in Mesopotamia received the wine as a gift. Sumerians learned from the Greeks and the Etruscans and later the Romans.The wine, however, was short-preservation and to be able to transport and trade of substances were added preservatives such as honey and resin.The Nets, who lived in the North-East of Italy in the last 5 centuries BC, they found a production method that was unnecessary the addition of preservatives: After harvesting the grapes were hanging out to dry thus concentrating the sugars, making the sweet wine and strong process still used today to Recioto and Amarone.The resulting wine was stored in wooden barrels, material that was abundant in the area. The Romans called this wine, which was much appreciated by the emperors, "Rhaetian". The Nets were a native people of the Alpine and pre-Alpine Central and Eastern Europe between Lake Como and the Adriatic Sea and had developed a considerable civilization in the fifth century BC It is believed that the Etruscans, who visited the area in order to trade in livestock and products such as iron and wine, had a strong influence on the lexical language, the Rhaetian. After the Roman conquest in 15 BC, who gave his name Raetia the area, the population Rhaetian assumed the Latin language, with the passing of generations became "Ladino" or "Romansh", a language that today are central in the Dolomites.THE RED GARDA WINEThe Red Del Garda DOC is produced in the area between Sirmione and Salo from Cabernet, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Marzemino, Corvino and Barbera and can be purchased among other things by the Cantine Visconti di Desenzano: www.luganavisconti . itThe wine is intense ruby ??red color and bright, vinous, typical of dry, fruity, distinctive, slightly bitter. With a minimum alcohol content of 12% and a year of aging can be called "Superior".


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Tecate, CA Area Scholarships

Tecate is an unincorporated community in the Mountain Empire area of southeastern San Diego County, California, directly adjacent to the Mexican city of Tecate, Baja California. The area is best known for its border crossing between the United States and Mexico, and nearby Tecate Peak.

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A person may go through a traumatic event, and never realise what the effect the trauma had on them.   It may even be up to a year or two or more afterwards before the person may feel stuck from experiencing trauma.    As a result of trauma, a person may begin to feel unsure of themselves, they may feel frightened or nervous in given situations.      A person may be completely oblivious to what has happened to them, not knowing that the trauma that they experienced in their life is causing them to feel this way.

On the other hand, a person who experienced a trauma may be well aware of the trauma, and may feel nervous or anxious as a result of the trauma.    These feelings of nervousness as a consequence of a trauma may begin to interfere with their life.   The trauma may be causing them to avoid social events or the person may begin to be become more introverted.    Indeed, trauma may cause a person to feel huge fear in any given situation.

How can Counselling help You?

Counselling can help you to firstly identify that what happened when you experienced the trauma be it a year ago or recently that is now causing problems in your life.   When an individual speaks about the trauma, it may well be the first time they ever spoke to anyone about it.      Once the person begin to speak about the trauma, whilst, they may be going back over the trauma, the person will begin the process of healing as a result of that event.

Sometimes, when a person experiences trauma in their lives, it may leave a scar such as, being unable to perform a certain task.    In this case, Patricia will normally give her clients coping mechanisms to deal with the trauma.   Patricia finds that Mindfulness Cognitive Behavioural therapy works with clients who have experienced a trauma, in that it helps the person to focus on where they are now.   The mindfulness cognitive behavioural therapy brings the focus to the present.

It is always a privilege to work with people who have experienced trauma, to see them face their trauma with courage, and ultimately see the individual come through as a stronger individual.


Blur, is a pop song with an urban influence and was produced by Danja, recalls a morning after a party. It was compared to In the Zone's Early Mornin'" and was well received by critics. The song is listed as one of Danja's best productions. .

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Enniskillen memorial - The powerful role symbols can play

A new memorial to the victims of the Enniskillen bombing is to be unveiled on Sunday at a ceremony to mark the 30th anniversary of the IRA attack in which 11 people were slaughtered.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will be there and is expected to sport the Shamrock poppy that he displayed in the Dáil this week, to the bemusement of some of his colleagues.

His predecessor, Enda Kenny, broke new ground in 2012 by first attending a Remembrance Sunday service at Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh. He did so for the following four years, but never wore a poppy.

The flower that blossomed on the graves of the fallen in the First World War has become a symbol of togetherness and of remembrance for millions of people in Britain and Northern Ireland, but in the south, its wearing is often looked upon with suspicion.

Its association with the Royal British Legion has ensured it has never gained widespread approval here.

That is a pity as it remains a poignant reminder of the tens of thousands of Irishmen who fought and died not just in the First World War but the one that followed it.

Mr Varadkar’s decision to wear the poppy reflects the greater recognition here of those Irishmen who fought and died serving with British forces.

His gesture may be viewed as merely symbolic, unimportant in the wider scheme of things.

But symbols, along with individual actions and statements, are hugely important.

One person can make all the difference and there is no finer example of that truism than Gordon Wilson.

After the 1987 Remembrance Sunday explosion in Enniskillen, two searing images flashed on television screens around the world. The first was of the destruction and devastation wrought by the IRA bomb that killed 11 Protestant civilians as they gathered at the town’s cenotaph for the annual commemoration to honour those who had died in the Great War. A 12th victim died in December 2000 after spending 13 years in a coma due to injuries sustained in the attack.

The second was an imaginary vision of the local draper cradling his 20-year-old daughter as she died in his arms. Gordon and Marie, who was a nurse, were trapped in rubble that resulted from the explosion. He survived with minor injuries but she died shortly afterwards.

Their brief, last conversation among the debris remains one of the post poignant and heart-breaking moments of the Troubles.

While assuring him that she was all right, her life was ebbing away and her last words to her beloved father were: “Daddy, I love you very much.”

Even in the midst of his overwhelming grief, Gordon found the Christian charity to forgive those who murdered his child. “She was a great wee lassie,” he said.

“She was a pet, and she’s dead. But I bear no ill-will, I bear no grudge.”

When the Taoiseach attends Sunday’s memorial in Enniskillen, we should all spend a moment to reflect not just on the heroes of war but on a remarkable hero of peace.

Gordon Wilson went on to become a key figure in the peace process. He is a saint, in every sense of that word.

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Tips for Helping Elderly Parents With Their Finances

Key Points
  • Talking to aging parents about their finances and next phase of life may be difficult, but it's essential to help them make a smooth transition.

  • From their current finances to the choice and cost of future living arrangements to protecting them from fraud, the more information you have now, the more help you can be in the future.

  • Parents, if your kids hesitate to start the conversation, help them out by bringing these topics up yourself—for the benefit of all of you.

Dear Carrie,

My parents are in their early 80s. Fortunately, they're in relatively good health and still quite independent, but I want to help them be prepared should things change. How can I get involved with their finances without being intrusive?

A Reader

Dear Reader,

While popular wisdom might say that 80 is the new 60, the reality of aging means that no matter how young we may feel now, chances are we're going to need some type of help in the future. And while it's often difficult to get older adults to accept that possibility, being prepared ahead of time is the best way to ease the transition.

That said, money can be a touchy subject at any age, so you're wise to be sensitive to your parents’ desire for independence and their potential reluctance to discuss the future. But the realities of today—particularly the prevalence of scams targeting the elderly and elder abuse—mean that it's more important than ever to get the conversation going.

Start by asking your parents about their current financial security

A lot of families don't like to talk about money but if you come from a position of concern for your parents' current wellbeing, they might feel more comfortable. And at their age, it only makes sense for them to share certain financial details with their family. Here are some questions to start with.

  • Are they easily handling everyday expenses? Do they have enough income to cover the essentials—or even things like a gym membership that help them thrive? If they're struggling to stay on top of bills or debts, you might help them create a more realistic budget or set up automatic payments for certain monthly expenses. You may take something like auto-pay for granted, but your parents may not have considered it.
  • Do they have a financial advisor? Would they be willing to introduce you and perhaps include you in a meeting? If they don't have an advisor, maybe you can take the lead in helping them do a simple financial plan. At the very least, you might help them take an inventory of their financial resources—pensions, IRAs, brokerage accounts, and Social Security benefits—so they have a clear idea of the money they have available for both the short and long term.
  • Have they updated their estate plan? Perhaps you've already talked to them about whether or not they have an estate plan in place, including an Advance Healthcare Directive and powers of attorney for both finances and healthcare decisions. If not, don't hesitate to bring it up because a basic estate plan is something everyone should have no matter their age—yourself included. If they have a plan, when was the last time they reviewed it? Have things changed since then?
  • Are important documents accessible? In case of emergency, it's important that you or someone else your parents trust be able to locate important documents. These can include: wills, trusts, bank and brokerage statements, insurance policies, mortgage documents and safe deposit box information as well as passwords for online accounts.

When introducing these topics, make it clear that you're not questioning their capability; you just want to be a resource should they need help.

Discuss their views on future living arrangements

The 90-year-old mother of a friend of mine is adamant that she wants to stay in her own home no matter what. On the other end of the spectrum, another friend's parents decided to move into a continuing care retirement community before it became necessary because they wanted to make the decision while they were still capable. You might want to talk to your parents about their preference should they need physical help. Position it as just an exploration of future possibilities—not any recommendation on your part.

If they're open to the idea of moving into a senior community at some point, now might be the time to do a little research together on senior living facilities in their area.

Plan ahead for the cost of care

Home care and assisted living are both costly propositions. According to the Genworth 2018 Annual Cost of Care survey, the national median annual cost for assisted living is $48,000; a home health aide is slightly higher at $50,336. And so much depends on where you live. In the San Francisco Bay Area, those home care costs are closer to $70,000 a year. In Alabama, they're under $40,000. And these costs are generally per person.

From a practical standpoint, it makes sense to discuss your parents' desires and the potential costs ahead of time so they know what their real options are. While future care can be an emotional flashpoint, it's also an important financial consideration because they—and you—should know what they're able to afford and if you might need to supplement any costs.

Know what benefits and services are available

According to the Council on Aging, there are more than 2,500 benefits programs nationwide to help with the cost of elder care. And it's easy to do an online benefits checkup. The Family Care Navigator provided by the National Care Giver Alliance can also help you find support services in your state. and your local Area on Aging are also helpful resources.

Be on the alert for abuse

Financial fraud is a very real threat these days. According to SIFMA, seniors in the U.S. lose an estimated $2.9 billion every year in financial exploitation. And that's only the reported cases. While senior investor protection laws are in place in many states and more are in the works, I think everyone needs to be on the alert for any kind of potential scam. SIFMA is a good resource for specifics on what to watch out for and action you can take.

Be sure to discuss this with your parents. As a precaution, it might be wise at some point for you or another trusted family member to have your name on certain of your parents' accounts to monitor transactions.

Have a family meeting

You don't say if you have siblings, but if so it's important that all of you are aware of your parents' situation and desires, and agree on who is going to take the lead. It's important for two reasons: 1) to assure there's no misunderstanding or disagreement if your parents do need help in the future, and 2) to make sure that whoever takes the lead gets the support they need in what could be a very difficult situation.

Keep talking—and listening

In sensitive situations like this, it's all about communication style and approach. While the burden can often fall on the kids to get the conversation going, I want to encourage any older adults reading this column to help their children out by bringing these things up themselves. The more open you all are and the more mutual understanding there is about the future—both emotional and financial—the more you'll all be able to enjoy the present.

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Legal Translation and Functionalist Approaches:

a Contradiction in Terms?

Giuliana Garzone
University of Bologna, Italy

At a time when the distinctive quality of the language of the law, which marks it off from
ordinary language and makes it a case apart even in the field of special languages, has been
recognised, and legal translation is no longer regarded simply as a particular case within the
general framework of LSP texts, a certain reluctance has emerged to accept the application of
a general translation theory to include the translation of legal texts. A case in point is
functionalism, whose advocates claim their theories to be comprehensive and suitable for
application to all types of translations in all situations, which obviously implies applicability
to legal translation. This has attracted serious objections by many scholars of different

In this paper I shall discuss whether it is legitimate to propose the application of functionalist
theories to legal translation.
The question is of extreme importance: a positive answer would
provide a good starting point for the construction of an all-embracing theoretical model
applicable to all text-types and genres in legal translation, something all the more desirable if
one considers that so far most studies have had their starting point in a specific experience in
one area of this very broad field, so that the theoretical concepts proposed, however viable,
have tended to be all but comprehensive in their scope of application. Incidentally, it has to be
specified that this discussion will focus exclusively on authentic texts, i.e. texts that the
philosopher Felix E. Oppenheim (1944: 60) has described as sentences of law, being endowed
with performative and/or prescriptive force, while leaving out statements about sentences of
law, i.e. metatexts, such as textbooks and specialised and non-specialised publishing, which,
although dealing with juridical topics, have no legal validity.

1. Functionalism and legal translation

In traditional translation theory, legal texts have been regarded simply as a special case within
the general framework of LSP texts, which in turn were considered to fall within the scope of
the general theory.

However, the past two decades or so have shown a growing consciousness of the diversity of
diaphasic varieties subsumed under the general heading of languages for special purposes
on the one hand, and on the other hand the emergence of a number of factors - an exponential
increase in international contacts both on the individual and community level (international
trade, communications, emigration, tourism etc.), and political and economic integration
involving gradual integration between legal systems (e.g. EU); and in bilingual (and in some
cases bi-juridical) countries there is an ever growing attention for equal language rights,
which has contributed to attracting substantial theoretical attention on legal translation.

At the same time, a radical change in perspective has occurred in translation theory: with the
emergence of approaches centred on communicative and pragmatic factors, growing emphasis
is now placed on translation as a communicative and intercultural action, leaving behind all
approaches focussing exclusively on linguistic aspects. The translator is no longer considered
a passive mediator but rather an intercultural operator, whose choices are increasingly

recipient-oriented, being based not only on strictly linguistic criteria but also on extra-
linguistic considerations, first and foremost the function of the translated text in the target
culture. In this functionalist line of thought centred on the concepts of skopos and target-
orientedness, the source text is no longer to be seen as the only standard for judging a
translation, which is now also assessed on the basis of its adequacy to communicative purpose
in the target culture (e.g. Reiss-Vermeer, 1984; Hnig-Kussmaul, 1982; Nord, 1991, 1997).

As for the applicability of this approach to legal translation, not only do its advocates claim
their theories to be comprehensive and applicable to all text types in all situations (Vermeer,
1982: 99), which implies their applicability to legal translation as well, but Hans Vermeer
himself, the founding father of this School of thought, extends the validity of his Skopos
theory explicitly to legal translation (Reiss-Vermeer, 1984: 158), providing practical
examples of its application to specific text types (Vermeer, 1986: 34: see 3.1 below).

But doubts have been raised by scholars of different backgrounds as to whether functional
approaches can be legitimately applied to LSP texts (e.g. Fluck, 1985: 136) and in particular
to legal texts (e.g. Soffritti, 1987; Trosborg, 1994; Madsen, 1997). The main objections are
centred on the typical recipient-orientedness of functional approaches, which seems
unacceptable for legal language, subject as it is to rigorous rules of interpretation. This
comes to no surprise for a theory which in its most extreme statement proclaims the
dethronement (Entthronung) of the ST, an idea which seems inadmissible in the perspective
of legal translation where the ST is sacred writ. On the whole, functionalism and legal
translation seem to be in glaring contradiction.

Yet, there are some extenuating factors to be taken into account. First of all, some of
Vermeers statements are extremely categorical and provocative, as ground-breaking
theoretical statements often are, but need not be taken literally. He himself has displayed a
degree of moderation in illustrating and applying his theories. On the whole, for all its
provocativeness, in perspective the advent of functional theories has had the effect of bringing
home the idea that translatology should do away with the rigid prescriptiveness of the past
and with the quest for rules of equivalence based only on the criterion of loyalty to the ST
with no regard for the use to which the translated text is to be put.

Secondly, as we shall see (see 3. below), even in the legal field where the source text, in its
meaning, its intention and its force, has to be scrupulously analysed and interpreted, in many
situations more than one translation project is possible and the translator has to make
her/his strategic decisions on the basis of a number of variables, thus leaving space for the
application of functional criteria even in a context of absolute respect for ST meaning and
values. This point will be illustrated by means of practical examples later on in the discussion.

Thirdly, one point against the acceptance of functionalism in this area has been the reluctance
of experts to accept the idea that a theory which is general in nature and not tailor-made
should be applied to legal translation. As a matter of fact, many distinguished scholars in the
field have simply ignored functionalism altogether, an inattention which at least in part may
also be connected with the desire to claim the uniqueness of the language of the law, even
with respect to other LSPs.

2. Distinctive quality of legal discourse

The distinctive quality of legal texts, and hence of legal translation, now acknowledged in
translatology, has long been recognised by jurists and jurilinguists (Gmar, 1995 I: 144) who
have pointed out that the legal translator has to cope with problems that are different from
those encountered in other sectors. This is why a general translation theory, albeit conceived
for comprehensiveness and extensive application, seems to be somehow inadequate.

Legal translation is certainly among the varieties of translations where the translator is subject
to the heaviest semiotic constraints at all levels: the language of the law is typically formulaic,
obscure, archaic; legal discourse is culturally mediated; legal texts have a special pragmatic
status. These features deserve a closer examination.

Under a purely formal perspective, legal writing is typically ritualistic and archaic, being
subject to very strict stylistic conventions in terms of register and diction as well as highly
codified genre structures. There are heavy constraints at all levels, from the macro-structure
of texts, to paragraphs, sentences and phrases, with systematic resort to standardised forms,
often archaic and uncommon in ordinary text practice, stock phrases, rigid collocations and
specialised cohesive devices for anaphoric and cataphoric as well as homophoric and
intertextual reference (Gotti, 1991: 105-110). These frozen patterns of language which allow
little or no variation in form (Baker, 1992: 63), sometimes referred to as routines (Hatim-
Mason, 1997: 190), can be translated only by making resort to parallel routines in the target
language. In addition, legal discourse, in contrast with other varieties of LSP is inherently
intricate and obscure, reflecting the complexity of legal thought and reasoning, but also the
verbosity and pompousness traditionally associated with the legal and judicial professions
(Mellinkoff, 1963: 25). Although the one-sentence rule has officially been put aside today,
too often the information load borne by each sentence is extremely heavy, thus giving rise to
remarkable sentence length (Gustaffson, 1975; Hiltunen, 1984; Bhatia, 1987, 1994) as well as
to very complex syntax, with a high incidence of embedded clauses, a high level of hypotaxis,
frequent resort to left-branching subordinate clauses, recurrence of syntactic discontinuities.

For the translator, this complexityoften bordering on obscuritynot only makes the
decoding task more arduous, but in many cases also requires a real hermeneutic effort on
her/his part, far beyond the scope of the ordinary decoding and interpreting required for other
kinds of translations. This is highly problematic. While legal professionals like lawyers,
judges and jurists are competent in hermeneutics as part of their essential armoury of skills, it
is usually not so for the translator who, in her/his interpreting efforts, is constantly at risk of
overstepping the limits of her/his professional competence.

All this is further complicated by the culturally mediated nature of legal discourse, which
determines profound differences in categories and concepts between legal systems, and in
particular between English law and its Roman-Germanic continental counterparts, suggesting
some degree of incommensurability between texts produced within the framework of common
law and civil law systems respectively. As a matter of fact, there are juridical concepts in
Roman law that simply do not exist in common law legal systems (e.g. potest dei genitori,
puissance paternelle; dolo, dol; forza maggiore, force majeure) and viceversa (e.g. bail,
estoppel, tresspass); there are concepts that bear the same name but, not being
correspondent, are simply false cognates, e.g. contract/contratto, civil law/diritto civile,
common law/diritto comune (David-Brierly, 1985: 20ff; 308ff.); a substantial divergence
exists even in the basic definition of the legal rule (norma giuridica, rgle de droit). The
translating procedures necessary to overcome these difficulties in actual translating practice
usually go under the denomination transposition juridique, i.e. legal transposition (Didier,
1991: 9; Crpeau, 1995: 52-53; Sarcevic, 1997:12-13). This inherent difficulty of legal

translation has made it a good case in point in discussions of untranslatability. But, since in
actual practice legal translations are produced and used every day, for a translator this
suggestion of untranslatability is only an abstract concept that serves to highlight the
remarkable degree of difficulty of her/his work.

As for the special pragmatic status of legal texts, it is connected essentially with their
performativity: they not only describe, report, narrate and point out facts, information and
arguments, but also have the property of performing legal actions and imposing obligations
(Austin, 1962; Benveniste, 1990a; 1990b). This applies also to translated legal texts when
they are authoritative: one of the reasons why legal translation is so problematic is that in
many cases the new text will be as legally binding as the ST and have legal consequences.

In studies of the language of the law, it is thanks to the parallel development of the theory of
speech acts and under the stimulus of Wittgensteins doctrine of the multiplicity and
potential countlessness of sentence types and language games (Carcaterra, 1994: 225) that
the idea has been brought home that the traditional classification of discourse found in legal
language (based on Bhler, 1934), which included descriptive (informative) and prescriptive
(vocative) discourse (expressive discourse hardly exists in legal texts), is inadequate to
account for all of its aspects, as is evident from the above discussion. Therefore, a
performative function has been added, which in its theoretical variety
is called constitutive
by jurists (Carcaterra, 1994: 225ff.).

Writers who have applied Bhlers classification of text functions to translation (e.g.
Newmark, 1982; Reiss, 1989) have tended to ignore this addition, however. Sarcevic, (1997:
10) herself comes to the conclusion that authoritative legal texts, being regulatory, are
essentially connotative in nature.
In dealing with contracts Trosborg (1994: 312ff.), while
correctly emphasising that legal speech acts cannot be translated literally, classifies them as
directive, commissive and constitutive (using the word constitutive, quite oddly, not with the
meaning of performative but rather to mean sentences used to explain or define
expressions and terms in the contract or to supply information concerning the application of
the statute), thus overlooking performativeness altogether. As a consequence, when
discussing the meaning of verb forms in legal speech acts in a translation, she attributes a
purely deontic meaning shall, while in legal texts, as I have shown elsewhere (Garzone, 1996:
68ff.; 1999a), this modal can also have a performative meaning depending on the context,
with obvious implications for translation decisions.

These observations on the one hand shed light on the particularly sensitive nature of legal
texts, which contributes to making their translation especially critical and problematic, and on
the other highlight the crucial role of pragmatic considerations in the choice of a correct
translation strategy.

2.1. The notion of legal equivalence

The complexity of legal discourse and its pragmatic status help explain why approaches to
legal translation have historically
been focused mainly on the preservation of the letter rather
than on the effective rendering in the target language; legal texts having always been
accorded the status of sensitive texts and been treated as such.

A real challenge to the unquestioned application of what Sarcevic, (1997: 24) calls a strict
literal approach to legal translation came only in the Nineteenth and early Twentieth century,
when multi-ethnic countries (Austria, Switzerland, Belgium) endowed themselves with

multilingual legislation. Here by definition all the translations of a statute were supposed to
have the same authentic status and this gave rise to the need to improve the quality of the
parallel texts of legislative instruments: a slavishly translated document is totally subordinate
to its original; rarely does it have the dignity of an authentic text.

Over time, a change in perspective occurred with a gradual shift towards a more flexible
attitude, eventually giving rise to the need to define new criteria of equivalence specific to
legal translation. Thus, the principle of legal equivalence emerged (Beaupr, 1986: 179;
Herbots, 1987), which adds the consideration of the legal effects that a translated text will
have in the target culture (Gmar, 1997: 81-85) to other criteria of equivalence. Of course, in
literature on translation, the concept of equivalence is as recurrent as it is vague and
controversial, and how to achieve it in actual practice has been one of the most widely
debated issues, especially during the 1970s and early 1980s and among German scholars.

Basically, the criterion of legal equivalence is akin to the concept of functional equivalence,
endorsed in this specific field by a number of authors (e.g. Pigeon, 1995; Gmar, 1995, I:
148ff.; Scarpa, 1997: 103). In terms of general translation theory, both principles have their
counterparts, mutatis mutandis, in other notions proposed by eminent theorists, e.g. Nida and
Tabers dynamic equivalence (Nida-Taber, 1969: 22-24), Kollers pragmatic equivalence
(1992: 187) and Newmarks communicative translation (Newmark, 1982: 38-56).

Incidentally, according to the principle of legal equivalence, the translation of a legal text will
seek to achieve identity of meaning between original and translation, i.e. identity of
propositional content as well as identity of legal effects (Sager, 1993: 180), while at the same
time pursuing the objective of reflecting the intents of the person or body (legislator, lawyer,
judge etc.) which produced the ST. In specifically linguistic and translational terms this
corresponds to identity of propositional content, illocutionary and perlocutionary force, and
intentionality (de Beaugrande-Dressler, 1981: 3-11; 113ff.) or author intent (Neubert-
Shreve, 1992: 70-72).

The emergence of the concept of legal equivalence marked a turning point in the history of
translation in this field. Although ultimately it still takes the source text as the yardstick
against which the standard of a translation is assessed, being as yet based first and foremost
on the criterion of interlingual concordance, i.e. intertextual symmetry or intertextual
correspondence (Sarcevic, 1997: 202 ss.), its advent has sanctioned the definitive end of the
traditional preference for an approach aimed at preserving the letter of the original as much as
possible, and the shift to a more dynamic attitude.

3. Legal translation in practice: some examples

But the crucial point is whether the concept of legal equivalence is applicable to all text types,
genres and sub-genres in legal translation. A brief review of some of the most common
typologies of legal translations and the translational procedures routinely implemented in
actual practice, based on pragmatic criteria, e.g. considering the legal force of the original and
of the translated text respectively, will show that the concept of legal equivalence is not
unconditionally suited to all situations and text types and confirms that in many cases the
translator adopts a different approach: quite significantly, this criterion was originally
formulated in a bilingual (and often bi-juridical) context, and finds its rationale in the
necessity that the translated text should have autonomous force, i.e. independent legal
validity. Other categories of legal texts may have different pragmatic characteristics (i.e.
different felicity or validity conditions) thus requiring different translating procedures.

Lets first consider the texts generated within the framework of a single national legal system.
Because of their lack of extraterritoriality, the validity of nationally-enacted legal documents
is limited to the territory of the country where they are issued, their involvement in its legal
system being part of the felicity conditions of the performative prefix (Austin, 1962: 14-15;
Levinson, 1983: 244ff.) that opens and guarantees each of them. The translation of these
texts is aimed at informing the addressee about the original legal instrument, in certain cases
(e.g. a divorce decree or an act of extradition) in view of its transcription and validation in the
legal system of the target language; the TT is not in itself authoritative: it will become so after
such transcription or validation has been effected. The approach adopted in the translation of
this category of legal texts is usually literal since the translated version is a Verstndnishilfe,
having the status of a parallel text, a gloss or a commentary to be used as a key of access to
the original, which has no legal validity of its own. Within this framework a special cases is
that of sworn translations for which in some countries a strict literal approach, indeed
bordering on interlinearity, is prescribed.

It is unquestionable that this first category of texts does not fall within the scope of legal
equivalence, for reasons that are more than obvious; however, strict literal translation is not
the only strategy that is possible. Given the absence of legal validity of the translated version,
there may be situations where a free approach can be taken, if the aim is only that of making
the addressee of the target text aware of the function of the original in the source language
culture, with no other institutional constraints. Italian jurist Sacco (1994, 490) gives the
example of a thriller book, where the English word attorney can legitimately be translated
into Italian with pubblico ministero and executor with esecutore testamentario, although these
juridically inaccurate translations would hardly be acceptable in a specialised context.

A second category of texts consists in documents drawn up in bi-lingual and/or bi-juridical
countries, of which probably the best known example is Canadian legislation. Both the ST
and the translation have the status of official authentic texts. The criterion applied is that of
legal equivalence, originally developed specifically for this category of texts, which is
dynamic and often requires a degree of interpretation and sometimes transposition juridique:
all texts should sound natural and effective, since each of them is independent and endowed
with autonomous legal validity.

As yet another category is that of hybrid texts, i.e. texts produced in a supranational
multicultural discourse community where there is no linguistically neutral ground (Trosborg,
1997: 145-146), including most international instruments. All translations in the official
languages of the international agency or body issuing a convention, a treaty, a protocol etc.
are equally authentic and are presumed to have the same meaning.
Every version, after
ratification on the part of the country involved, will have autonomous legal validity in its
territory. Here again, as in the previous case, the principle of legal equivalence applies, at
least in theory; but in actual practice international instruments, which most of the time are
negotiated within commissions made up of members of different nationalities (Sarcevic,
1997: 204), are drawn up in a much more straightforward language so that quite often the
pursuit of legal equivalence can go hand in hand with literal translation.

The terms of the problem are to a certain extent different when these same international legal
instruments are translated into languages that are not the official ones of the issuing
organisation, for instance the Italian version of a Convention issued by OECD, whose official
languages are English and French. In line of principle its purpose is purely informative and
has no legal validity, which means that a merely documentary rendering would suffice, but in
practice this kind of translation is the main vehicle through which the provisions of an

international instrument are enforced after adoption and ratification by the national parliament
of the country involved, even if formally it is one of the official versions that is adopted.
Hence the danger that a slavish translation might give rise to incorrect enforcement
consequently the need to comply with the criterion of legal equivalence.

Among hybrid texts a special case is that of European Union legislation, in spite of a
widening margin of creativity in certain (non-restricted) parts of European instruments
mainly at lexical and terminological level, intertextual correspondence (i.e. interlingual
concordance) still seems to predominate in substantive provisions (Sarcevic, 1997: 225), also
due to uniformity of text formats across languages within the EU. At the same time, efforts
are being made to find a common ground by introducing specific European terminology into
all languages, with new terms specially created for this purpose. When a European term is
not available, conceptual coincidence is forced upon terms that are not inherently equivalent
across languages and legal systems. Thus, gradually, a special language that has been
described as Euro-legalese is being generated, which in time will make the translators task
much easier.

The last category of texts which will be considered here includes international documents
regulating the relationships between private subjects in different nations. In this case, the
original text agreed between the parties is not necessarily authoritative; an international
contract, for instance, will be interpreted according to the law governing it, regardless of the
language in which it is written, and will be drawn up according to the rules and drafting
conventions of the national law applicable to it.

This is the case to which Vermeer refers in his proposal to apply Skopos theory to legal
translation and in fact it is that which seems to be best accounted for by such theory: the
source text offers the input on the basis of which a new autonomous text is created in the
translation language taking into account mainly the needs of the final users. In this connection
Vermeer (1986: 34) proposes the example of an insurance contract which is translated
differently depending on its intended function: target-language formulas are resorted to if the
translation is for use in practice, for the stipulation of insurance policies in a foreign country,
while a source-language oriented approach is taken if the translation is to be used only as
court evidence. Similarly, in order to show that the way the text is translated [is] dominated
by the function of the translator in order to meet the clients needs, Obenaus (1995: 252)
discusses the example of an original warranty statement drawn up by an American company:
if the translation is to have legal validity in Germany, it will require a legal equivalence
approach, while if it is commissioned by a German company willing to gain a better
understanding of the type of warranties commonly granted in the USA, the translation will
simply be a footnoted explanation of the original.

3.1. Viability of a functional approach to legal translation

On the basis of the above discussion, it is evident that in actual practice the criterion of legal
equivalence is followed by translators only for certain categories of texts, while for others
different strategies are applied in order to guarantee adequacy to the function the TT is
expected to fulfil in the target situation. Of course, a translators behaviour is conditioned by
rigidly codified linguistic practices, but for the overall translation project of any given text
s/he has to make crucial choices that will govern her/his decisions down to the lower levels of
the process. In this respect s/he will be guided prevalently by functional considerations.

This functional orientation is evident not only in the selection of the overall strategy applied
in translation, as illustrated above, but also in the very fine distinctions translators make, in
contrastive terms, between different text genres (Textsorten) and text types (Texttypen)
(Reiss, 1989: 105; Nord, 1997: 37) as well as in the lower-level translating decisions made in
drafting the TT with regard to the definitive text format, layout and microstructures (sentence
organisation, terminology). It is evident even in the solutions customarily adopted for the
problems that traditionally have attracted the most attention in this field, those associated with
the translation of terminology. In the absence of complete identity of meaning between two
terms in different legal systems (see 2 above), an essentially onomasiological approach is
taken. Initially, the translator will draw upon her/his encyclopaedic knowledge of the subject
or, more probably, conduct a thorough research in the literature and analyse parallel texts in
order become fully aware at a conceptual level of the notion it refers to and to ascertain to a
high degree of accuracy the syntactic, semantic and pragmatic value of the term. On this
basis, it will be possible to find a term in the TL that covers the same superabstract notion
(Sacco, 1994: 490), i.e. broadly speaking a legal concept that is basically correspondent in the
TL language and culture, albeit with differences due to the peculiarities of each legal system.
At this point, the reasonable course usually taken
is to evaluate with great care the semantic
features that differ in the original term and its potential translation respectively, in order to
ascertain which discrepancies, if any, are actually relevant to the purpose of the text in
question, and behave accordingly (Sacco, 1994: 490), i.e. either choose one of the near-
equivalent terms available, making sure that the differences in meaning are not relevant to the
case in point, or adopt a solution that makes up for conceptual incongruencies resorting to a
descriptive paraphrase or adding an explanatory note (Sarcevic, 1991: 615; 1997: 231ff.;
Smith, 1995: 188-189). Incidentally, the principle of relevance of semantic features to a given
context is inherently functional and can be seen as the legal counterpart of the more general
principle put forth by P. Kussmaul: try to reproduce just that semantic feature or those
semantic features which is/are relevant in a given context with regard to the function of your
translation (Kussmaul, 1995: 92), which in turn is acknowledged by the author himself to be
the translatorial version of Grices maxim of quantity and maxim of relevance.

3.2. Priority of functional criteria in the practice of legal translation

The reason for this priority of functional considerations in the practice of legal translation, in
spite of all theoretical objections, is certainly to be found in the fact that functionalism is so
general in its theoretical formulations as to subsume all other criteria and so flexible as to
enable the translator to take account of the distinctive nature of legal texts and in particular of
their pragmatic characteristics, thanks to the absence of an absolute standard of equivalence.
The translators translation project will vary depending on whether the TT is to be
authoritative and, if so, whether it is to take its force from the same performative act as the
original (as is the case in countries with a bi- or multi-lingual legislation) or from a new
speech act to be performed within the legal system of the target language.

Of course, in theoretical terms, functional theories have attracted a lot of criticisms, with
detractors focussing their attention on the most categorical and provocative assertions of their
advocates. For instance, as already mentioned above, in the legal field Vermeers idea of a
translation as an offer of information in the target language about an offer of information in
the source language (Reiss-Vermeer, 1984: 76) has been rejected on the grounds that it is at
odds with the nature itself of legal texts, since they are not only informative but are by
definition endowed with special performative (constitutive) or deontic (prescriptive) force
(e.g. Madsen, 1997:18). However, it is true that virtually in all categories of texts discussed in
3. above (with the exception of bilingual legislation) there are to be found translations that,

not being authoritative, actually are only offers of information about a SL original. It is also
true that in spite of the reputation of functional approaches for being associated with free
translation and scarce consideration for the original text, which would make them
incompatible with legal translation, it is part of the rationale underlying them that the skopos
of a certain TT may demand (or lead to) a literal translation (Vermeer, 1996: 41-42); in
other words, as C. Nord (1997: 29) makes clear, the Skopos of a particular translation task
may require a free or a faithful translation, or anything between these two extremes,
depending on the purpose for which the translation is needed [...] There may be cases where
relative literalism is precisely what the receiver (or the client or the user) needs...

Intertextual correspondence between ST and TT (Vermeer's fidelity)
is still an issue,
although it is seen as mainly determined by considerations dependent on the skopos of the
translation rather than on the nature of the text to be translated: the criterion of concordance
with the ST is combined with that of coherence with the receivers situation and with the TTs
intended use.

4. Conclusions

In conclusion, objections to the adoption of functional approaches in legal translation can be
easily rejected, notwithstanding the elements which appear to conflict with principles
traditionally applied in this field: most objections to functionalism can be refuted considering
the high level of abstraction of its theoretical assumptions.

On the contrary, the application of a functional approach seems especially suitable for the
translation of legal texts, on account of their diversity, although it does not circumvent the
problem of equivalence, but rather poses it in different terms rejecting the idea that there
should be one single universally applicable concept of equivalence. Instead, it rather brings
home the notion that the degree of equivalence to be achieved in the translation of a given text
is not absolute, but depends first and foremost on the TT intended function as well as on the
nature of the ST: the whole process is governed by a principle located at a sufficiently high
level of generalisation as to be suitable for virtually all types of legal texts.

Of course, for application in the field of the law some of the most controversial corollaries of
functionalism have to be modified or even discarded, due largely to the particular pragmatic
status (i.e. legal force and validity) of legal texts, which is the overriding factor in
determining the skopos of the translation.

There can be no doubt, however, that on the whole in legal translation a functional approach
is not only viable, but recommendable as well as effective in consideration of its
comprehensiveness and flexibility. All the more so since an examination of translators
behaviour in the legal field (supra 4.) shows that actual translating practice is routinely based
on functional criteria. Thus, if one single unifying principle to guide the choices of legal
translators is to be set out, a functional model seems to be the only viable alternative, mainly
on account of its high level of abstraction.

Some of the arguments put forth in this paper are also discussed in Garzone, 1999b.
See also Kurzon (1991: 284), who considers only the sentences of law worthy of the name language of the law and
proposes the denomination legal language for metatexts, a distinction which is meaningful but too subtle to be adopted

consistently. For an analytic classification of the different text genres to be included in each of Oppenheims two categories
see Bhatia, 1987: 227, modified (specifically for written texts) in Garzone, 1997: 216.
Thetic performatives are those that not only perform an action for the mere fact of being uttered, as athetic performatives
do, but also give rise instantaneously to a new state of things or new legal relationships or a new legal status. The terms
thetic and athetic have been introduced by Italian scholar A.G. Conte (see for instance, 1994: 248-249). Austins examples
E.a; E.b and (E.c) ("I do [take this woman to be my lawful wedded wife]"; "I name this ship the Queen Elisabeth"; "I give
and bequeath my watch to my brother") are typically thetic; (I bet you sixpence that it will rain tomorrow) is athetic, like
I thank you or I apologise. See also Garzone, 1996: 47ff.
"[] conative texts include not only persuasive but also regulatory texts Legal instruments are primarily regulatory in
nature Thus it follows that regulatory instruments are conative texts" (Sarcevic, 1997: 10). Sarcevic, recalls that also
Newmark (1982: 13-15) originally classified them as directive and imperative, while later he curiously reclassified them
as expressive texts (Newmark, 1988: 39). Also Reiss who had originally classified legal texts as essentially conative in her,
1977 paper (English translation: 1989), later, with Vermeer, proposed to classify them as essentially informative (Reiss-
Vermeer, 1984: 208-209). Similarly, in Sagers view (1993: 70) legal texts have either an informative or a directive purpose,
depending on their readers.
For a detailed history of legal translation from Justinian to the present day see Sarcevic, (1997: 23ff.).
On the debate about the concept of equivalence see for instance Snell-Hornby, 1995: 20-22. For some other definitions of
the concept see, among German scholars, Reiss, 1989, Wills, 1977; see also Nida, 1964 and Catford, 1965: 27.
Article 33(3) of the Convention on the Law of Treaties (1969) states that the terms of a Treaty are presumed to have the
same meaning in each authentic text.
This was the case for the Italian translation of the United Nations Convention for the International Sales of Goods (Vienna,
11.4.1980): see Garzone, 1998, where the problems concerning the translation of "hybrid texts" is discussed in detail.
A similar case, dealt with by Soffritti (1995) with regard to the North Italian province of South Tyrol, is that of legislation
in bi-lingual regions where laws are translated in order to make them intelligible for minority-language speaking citizens but
have no official legal validity.
Sarcevic, (1997: 224-225) borrows the distinction between restricted and non-restricted or free parts of EU instruments
from: V Koutsivitis V., La traduction juridique, tude dun cas: la traduction des textes lgislatifs des Communauts
europennes, et en particulier partir du franais vers le grec, thse de doctorat, Universit de la Sorbonne nouvelle Paris
III, 1988.
Her account is not taken of emergency courses of action, like resorting to an ad hoc neologism or to a borrowing or a
loan-translation or even acknowledging impossibility of translation.
See Reiss-Vermeer, 1984: 114.

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 A screw thread is formed by cutting a continuous helical groove on a cylindrical surface.

 A screw made by cutting a single helical groove on the cylinder is known as single
threaded (or single-start) screw and if a second thread is cut in the space between the
grooves of the first, a double threaded (or double-start) screw is formed.
 Similarly, triple and quadruple (i.e. multiple-start) threads may be formed. The helical
grooves may be cut either right hand or left hand.
 A screwed joint is mainly composed of two elements i.e. a bolt and nut. The screwed
joints are widely used where the machine parts are required to be readily connected or
disconnected without damage to the machine or the fastening.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Screwed Joints
1. Screwed joints are highly reliable in operation.
2. Screwed joints are convenient to assemble and disassemble.
3. A wide range of screwed joints may be adopted to various operating conditions.
4. Screws are relatively cheap to produce due to standardization and highly efficient
manufacturing processes.
The main disadvantage of the screwed joints is the stress concentration in the threaded
portions which are vulnerable points under variable load conditions.
Important Terms Used in Screw Threads
The following terms used in screw threads, as shown in Fig. Are important from the subject
point of view:
1. Major diameter. It is the largest diameter of an external or internal screw thread. The
screw is specified by this diameter. It is also known as outside or nominal diameter.
2. Minor diameter. It is the smallest diameter of an external or internal screw thread. It
is also known as core or root diameter.
3. Pitch diameter. It is the diameter of an imaginary cylinder, on a cylindrical screw
thread, the surface of which would pass through the thread at such points as to make
equal the width of the thread and the width of the spaces between the threads. It is also
called an effective diameter. In nut and bolt assembly, it is the diameter at which the
ridges on the bolt are in complete touch with the ridges of the corresponding nut.

4. Pitch. It is the distance from a point on one thread to the corresponding point on the
next. This is measured in an axial direction between corresponding points in the same
axial plane. Mathematically,
Pitch = 1 /No. of threads per unit length of screw
5. Lead. It is the distance between two corresponding points on the same helix. It may
also be defined as the distance which a screw thread advances axially in one rotation of
the nut. Lead is equal to the pitch in case of single start threads, it is twice the pitch in
double start, thrice the pitch in triple start and so on.
6. Crest. It is the top surface of the thread.
7. Root. It is the bottom surface created by the two adjacent flanks of the thread.
8. Depth of thread. It is the perpendicular distance between the crest and root.
9. Flank. It is the surface joining the crest and root.
10. Angle of thread. It is the angle included by the flanks of the thread.
11. Slope. It is half the pitch of the thread.
Forms of Screw Threads
 British standard Whitworth (B.S.W.) thread. This is a British standard thread profile
and has coarse pitches. It is a symmetrical V-thread in which the angle between the
flankes, measured in an axial plane, is 55°. These threads are found on bolts and screwed
fastenings for special purposes
 British association (B.A.) thread. This is a B.S.W. thread with fine pitches.. These
threads are used for instruments and other precision works.
 American national standard thread. The American national standard or U.S. or Seller's
thread has flat crests and roots. The flat crest can withstand more rough usage than sharp

V-threads. These threads are used for general purposes e.g. on bolts, nuts, screws and
tapped holes.
 Square thread. The square threads, because of their high efficiency, are widely used for
transmission of power in either direction. Such types of threads are usually found on the
feed mechanisms of machine tools, valves, spindles, screw jacks etc
 Acme thread. It is a modification of square thread. It is much stronger than square thread
and can be easily produced. These threads are frequently used on screw cutting lathes,
brass valves, cocks and bench vices.
 Knuckle thread. It is also a modification of square thread. It has rounded top and
bottom. It can be cast or rolled easily and can not economically be made on a machine.
 Buttress thread. It is used for transmission of power in one direction only. The force is
transmitted almost parallel to the axis. This thread units the advantage of both square and
 Metric thread. It is an Indian standard thread and is similar to B.S.W. threads. It has an
included angle of 60° instead of 55°.

Common Types of Screw Fastenings

Following are the common types of screw fastenings:
Through bolts:
 A through bolt (or simply a bolt) is shown in Fig. (a).
 It is a cylindrical bar with threads for the nut at one end and head at the other end. The
cylindrical part of the bolt is known as shank.
 It is passed through drilled holes in the two parts to be fastened together and clamped
them securely to each other as the nut is screwed on to the threaded end.
 The through bolts may or may not have a machined finish and are made with either
hexagonal or square heads. A through bolt should pass easily in the holes, when put
under tension by a load along its axis.
 If the load acts perpendicular to the axis, tending to slide one of the connected parts along
the other end thus subjecting it to shear, the holes should be reamed so that the bolt shank
fits snugly there in.
 The through bolts according to their usage may be known as machine bolts, carriage
bolts, automobile bolts, eye bolts etc.

Tap bolts.
 A tap bolt or screw differs from a bolt. It is screwed into a tapped hole of one of the parts to
be fastened without the nut, as shown in Fig. 2
 A stud is a round bar threaded at both ends. One end of the stud is screwed into a tapped
hole of the parts to be fastened, while the other end receives a nut on it, as shown in Fig.3
 Studs are chiefly used instead of tap bolts for securing various kinds of covers
 e.g. covers of engine and pump cylinders, valves, chests etc.
Cap screws:
 The cap screws are similar to tap bolts except that they are of small size and a variety of
shapes of heads are available as shown in Fig.

Machine screws:
 These are similar to cap screws with the head slotted for a screw driver. These are
generally used with a nut.
Set screws:
 The set screws are shown in Fig. These are used to prevent relative motion between the
two parts.

 A set screw is screwed through a threaded hole in one part so that its point (i.e.end of the
screw) presses against the other part.
 This resists the relative motion between the two parts by means of friction between the
point of the screw and one of the parts.
 They may be used instead of key to prevent relative motion between a hub and a shaft in
light power transmission members.
 They may also be used in connection with a key, where they prevent relative axial motion
of the shaft, key and hub assembly.

Locking Devices:
Ordinary thread fastenings, generally, remain tight under static loads, but many of these
fastenings become loose under the action of variable loads or when machine is subjected to
vibrations. The loosening of fastening is very dangerous and must be prevented. In order to
prevent this, a large number of locking devices are available, some of which are discussed
Jam nut or lock nut:
 A most common locking device is a jam, lock or check nut. It has about one-half
to two-third thickness of the standard nut. The thin lock nut is first tightened
down with ordinary force, and then the upper nut (i.e. thicker nut) is tightened
down upon it, as shown in Fig. (a).
 The upper nut is then held tightly while the lower one is slackened back against it
In slackening back the lock nut, a thin spanner is required which is difficult to
find in many shops. Therefore to overcome this difficulty, a thin nut is placed on
the top as shown in Fig.(b).
 If the nuts are really tightened down as they should be, the upper nut carries a
greater tensile load than the bottom one. Therefore, the top nut should be thicker
one with a thin nut below it because it is desirable to put whole of the load on the

thin nut. In order to overcome both the difficulties, both the nuts are made of the
same thickness as shown in Fig (c).

Castle nut:
 It consists of a hexagonal portion with a cylindrical upper part which is slotted in line
with the centre of each face, as shown in Fig.
 The split pin passes through two slots in the nut and a hole in the bolt, so that a positive
lock is obtained unless the pin shears.
 It is extensively used on jobs subjected to sudden shocks and considerable vibration such
as in automobile industry.
Sawn nut:
 It has a slot sawed about half way through, as shown in Fig. After the nut is screwed
down, the small screw is tightened which produces more friction between the nut and the
bolt. This prevents the loosening of nut.
Penn, ring or grooved nut:
 It has a upper portion hexagonal and a lower part cylindrical as shown in Fig. It is largely
used where bolts pass through connected pieces reasonably near their edges such as in
marine type connecting rod ends.
 The bottom portion is cylindrical and is recessed to receive the tip of the locking set
screw. The bolt hole requires counter-boring to receive the cylindrical portion of the nut.
 In order to prevent bruising of the latter by the case hardened tip of the set screw, it is

Locking with pin:
 The nuts may be locked by means of a taper pin or cotter pin passing through the middle
of the nut as shown in Fig.
Locking with plate:
 A form of stop plate or locking plate is shown in Fig. The nut can be adjusted and
subsequently locked through angular intervals of 30° by using these plates.
Spring lock washer:
 A spring lock washer is shown in Fig. As the nut tightens the washer against the piece
below, one edge of the washer is caused to dig itself into that piece, thus increasing the
resistance so that the nut will not loosen so easily. There are many kinds of spring lock
washers manufactured, some of which are fairly effective.

Stresses in Screwed Fastening due to Static Loading

 The following stresses in screwed fastening due to static loading are important from the
subject point of view:
1. Internal stresses due to screwing up forces,
2. Stresses due to external forces, and
3. Stress due to combination of stresses at (1) and (2).

Initial Stresses due to Screwing up Forces
The following stresses are induced in a bolt, screw or stud when it is screwed up tightly.
1. Tensile stress due to stretching of bolt. Since none of the above mentioned stresses
are accurately determined, therefore bolts are designed on the basis of direct tensile stress
with a large factor of safety in order to account for the indeterminate stresses. The initial
tension in a bolt, based on experiments, may be found by the relation
Pi= 2840 d N
Pi= Initial tension in a bolt, and
d= Nominal diameter of bolt, in mm.
The above relation is used for making a joint fluid tight like steam engine cylinder cover
joints etc. When the joint is not required as tight as fluid-tight joint, then the initial
tension in a bolt may be reduced to half of the above value. In such cases
Pi= 1420 d N
The small diameter bolts may fail during tightening, therefore bolts of smaller diameter
(less than M 16 or M 18) are not permitted in making fluid tight joints.
If the bolt is not initially stressed, then the maximum safe axial load which may be
applied to it, is given by
P= Permissible stress × Cross-sectional area at bottom of the thread.

Two machine parts are fastened together tightly by means of a 24 mm tap bolt. If the load
tending to separate these parts is neglected, find the stress that is set up in the bolt by the
initial tightening.

A steam engine cylinder has an effective diameter of 350 mm and the maximum steam pressure
acting on the cylinder cover is 1.25 N/mm2. Calculate the number and size of studs required to
fix the cylinder cover, assuming the permissible stress in the studs as 33 MPa.

Design of a Nut

 When a bolt and nut is made of mild steel, then the effective height of nut is made equal
to the nominal diameter of the bolt.

 If the nut is made of weaker material than the bolt, then the height of nut should be larger,
such as 1.5 d for gun metal, 2 d for cast iron and 2.5 d for aluminium alloys (where d is
the nominal diameter of the bolt).
 In case cast iron or aluminium nut is used, then V-threads are permissible only for
permanent fastenings, because threads in these materials are damaged due to repeated
screwing and unscrewing.

Bolted Joints under Eccentric Loading

There are many applications of the bolted joints which are subjected to eccentric loading
such as a wall bracket, pillar crane, etc. The eccentric load may be

 Parallel to the axis of the bolts,

 Perpendicular to the axis of the bolts, and
 In the plane containing the bolts.

Eccentric Load Acting Parallel to the Axis of Bolts

Consider a bracket having a rectangular base bolted to a wall by means of four bolts as shown in
Fig. A little consideration will show that each bolt is subjected to a direct tensile load of

 Further the load W tends to rotate the bracket about the edge A-A.
 Due to this, each bolt is stretched by an amount that depends upon its distance from the
tilting edge.
 Since the stress is a function of elongation, therefore each bolt will experience a different
load which also depends upon the distance from the tilting edge.
 For convenience, all the bolts are made of same size. In case the flange is heavy, it may
be considered as a rigid body.

 Let w be the load in a bolt per unit distance due to the turning effect of the bracket and let
W1 and W2 be the loads on each of the bolts at distances L1 and L2 from the tilting edge.

A bracket, as shown in Fig. above, supports a load of 30 kN. Determine the size of bolts, if the
maximum allowable tensile stress in the bolt material is 60 MPa. The distances are: L 1 = 80 mm,
L2 = 250 mm, and L = 500 mm.

From Table (coarse series), we find that the standard core diameter of the bolt is 28.706 mm and
the corresponding size of the bolt is M 33.

Eccentric Load Acting Perpendicular to the Axis of Bolts

Determine the size of the bolts and the thickness of the arm for the bracket as shown in Fig., if it
carries a load of 40 kN at an angle of 60° to the vertical.

The material of the bracket and the bolts is same for which the safe stresses can be assumed
as70, 50 and 105 MPa in tension, shear and compression respectively.

Since the induced shear stress is less than the permissible stress (50 MPa), therefore the design is

 The power screws (also known as translation screws) are used to convert rotary motion into
translator motion.
 For example, in the case of the lead screw of lathe, the rotary motion is available but the tool
has to be advanced in the direction of the cut against the cutting resistance of the material.
 In case of screw jack, a small force applied in the horizontal plane is used to raise or lower a
large load. Power screws are also used in vices, testing machines, presses, etc.

In most of the power screws, the nut has axial motion against the resisting axial force while the
screw rotates in its bearings. In some screws, the screw rotates and moves axially against the resisting
force while the nut is stationary and in others the nut rotates while the screw moves axially with no

Types of Screw Threads used for Power Screws

Following are the three types of screw threads mostly used for power screws:

 Square thread: A square thread, as shown in Fig. a, is adapted for the transmission of power in
either direction. This thread results in maximum efficiency and minimum radial or bursting
pressure on the nut. The square threads are employed in screw jacks, presses and clamping

 Acme or trapezoidal thread: An acme or trapezoidal thread, as shown in Fig. b, is a modification

of square thread. The slight slope given to its sides lowers the efficiency slightly than square
thread and it also introduce some bursting pressure on the nut, but increases its area in shear.
 Buttress thread: A buttress thread, as shown in Fig. c, is used when large forces act along the
screw axis in one direction only. It is stronger than other threads because of greater thickness
at the base of the thread.

Multiple Threads:

The power screws with multiple threads such as double, triple etc. are employed when it is
desired to secure a large lead with fine threads or high efficiency. Such types of threads are usually
found in high speed actuators.

A vertical screw with single start square threads of 50 mm mean diameter and 12.5 mm pitch is raised
against a load of 10 kN by means of a hand wheel, the boss of which is threaded to act as a nut. The axial
load is taken up by a thrust collar which supports the wheel boss and has a mean diameter of 60 mm.
The coefficient of friction is 0.15 for the screw and 0.18 for the collar. If the tangential force applied by
each hand to the wheel is 100 N, find suitable diameter of the hand wheel.

An electric motor driven power screw moves a nut in a horizontal plane against a force of 75 kN at a
speed of 300 mm / min. The screw has a single square thread of 6 mm pitch on a major diameter of 40
mm. The coefficient of friction at screw threads is 0.1. Estimate power of the motor.

The cutter of a broaching machine is pulled by square threaded screw of 55 mm external diameter and
10 mm pitch. The operating nut takes the axial load of 400 N on a flat surface of 60 mm and 90 mm
internal and external diameters respectively. If the coefficient of friction is 0.15 for all contact surfaces
on the nut, determine the power required to rotate the operating nut when the cutting speed is 6
m/min. Also find the efficiency of the screw.

A vertical two start square threaded screw of a 100 mm mean diameter and 20 mm pitch supports a
vertical load of 18 kN. The axial thrust on the screw is taken by a collar bearing of 250 mm outside
diameter and 100 mm inside diameter. Find the force required at the end of a lever which is 400 mm
long in order to lift and lower the load. The coefficient of friction for the vertical screw and nut is 0.15
and that for collar bearing is 0.20

The mean diameter of the square threaded screw having pitch of 10 mm is 50 mm. A load of 20 kN is
lifted through a distance of 170 mm. Find the work done in lifting the load and the efficiency of the
screw, when 1. The load rotates with the screw, and 2. The load rests on the loose head which does not
rotate with the screw. The external and internal diameters of the bearing surface of the loose head are
60 mm and 10 mm respectively. The coefficient of friction for the screw and the bearing surface may be
taken as 0.08.

The lead screw of a lathe has Acme threads of 50 mm outside diameter and 8 mm pitch. The screw must
exert an axial pressure of 2500 N in order to drive the tool carriage. The thrust is carried on a collar 110
mm outside diameter and 55 mm inside diameter and the lead screw rotates at 30 r.p.m. Determine (a)
the power required to drive the screw; and (b) the efficiency of the lead screw. Assume a coefficient of
friction of 0.15 for the screw and 0.12 for the collar.

A power screw having double start square threads of 25 mm nominal diameter and 5 mm pitch is acted
upon by an axial load of 10 kN. The outer and inner diameters of screw collar are 50 mm and 20 mm
respectively. The coefficient of thread friction and collar friction may be assumed as 0.2 and 0.15
respectively. The screw rotates at 12 r.p.m. Assuming uniform wear condition at the collar and allowable
thread bearing pressure of 5.8 N/mm2, find: 1. the torque required to rotate the screw; 2. the stress in
the screw; and 3. the number of threads of nut in engagement with screw.


Enhanced cerebral perfusion during brief exposures to cyclic intermittent hypoxemia - Liu et al. (2017)

Key Points

  • Intermittent hypoxia (IH) increases brain blood flow, even with low CO2

  • IH increases fractional oxygen extraction in the brain

  • IH might be a useful before a workout, competition, or presentation to increase brain blood flow and focus

The Breathing Diabetic Summary

Your brain consumes almost 20% of your oxygen at rest.  Therefore, during intermittent hypoxia (IH), it makes sense that the body would compensate to make sure the brain gets the oxygen it needs.

However, previous studies are conflicting because when oxygen is reduced, we typically start breathing more.  This gets rid of too much carbon dioxide (CO2), leading to hypocapnia (low CO2).

CO2 is a main driver of cerebral vasodilation.  That is, it increases brain blood flow.  Thus, if CO2 is reduced, we would expect less blood flow to the brain.

This study aimed to see how these factors played out during cyclic IH.  Would the reduced O2 increase brain blood flow, or would it be offset by reduced CO2?

They recruited 8 healthy men that were ~25 years old.  The participants inhaled O2 at 10% for 6 min to induce hypoxia.  They then breathed normal room air for 4 min.  This cycle was repeated 5 times.  Measurements were taken after the 1st and 5th bouts to see how responses changed during progressive hypoxia exposures.

During the bouts of hypoxia, blood oxygen saturation dropped to ~67%, which is below the therapeutic range of IH.  However, the authors reported that none of the subjects felt discomfort or stress.

Overall, the results revealed that brain blood flow increased by ~20%.  Increases in brain blood flow were significantly greater during the 5th vs. the 1st bout of hypoxia, suggesting a cumulative effect of hypoxia exposures.  The participants dropped CO2 by 4 mm Hg, yet their brain blood flow still increased significantly.  Thus, the increased brain blood flow from hypoxia “overpowered” the reduced blood flow from hypocapnia.

Fractional oxygen extraction in the brain also increased significantly after the 1st bout and remained elevated during the rest of the protocol.  Muscle oxygen extraction, on the other hand, dropped during the procedure, suggesting that the brain gets priority during times of hypoxia.

Statistical analysis revealed that major increases in brain blood flow occurred at about 86% SpO2.  This is something we can easily achieve using breath holds.  In fact, Principle 3 recommends hypercapnic (high CO2) breath holds.  Because both hypoxia and high CO2 cause cerebral vasodilation, we can speculate that brain blood flow would be increased even more using this protocol.

Finally, from a practical perspective, this research supports the idea of practicing breath holds before a workout, competition, or presentation. The increased brain blood flow will help focus your mind and prepare you for what’s ahead.

Abstract from Paper

Cerebral vasodilation and increased cerebral oxygen extraction help maintain cerebral oxygen uptake in the face of hypoxemia. This study examined cerebrovascular responses to intermittent hypoxemia in eight healthy men breathing 10% O2 for 5 cycles, each 6 min, interspersed with 4 min of room air breathing. Hypoxia exposures raised heart rate ( P < 0.01) without altering arterial pressure, and increased ventilation ( P < 0.01) by expanding tidal volume. Arterial oxygen saturation ([Formula: see text]) and cerebral tissue oxygenation ([Formula: see text]) fell ( P < 0.01) less appreciably in the first bout (from 97.0 ± 0.3% and 72.8 ± 1.6% to 75.5 ± 0.9% and 54.5 ± 0.9%, respectively) than the fifth bout (from 94.9 ± 0.4% and 70.8 ± 1.0% to 66.7 ± 2.3% and 49.2 ± 1.5%, respectively). Flow velocity in the middle cerebral artery ( VMCA) and cerebrovascular conductance increased in a sigmoid fashion with decreases in [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]. These stimulus-response curves shifted leftward and upward from the first to the fifth hypoxia bouts; thus, the centering points fell from 79.2 ± 1.4 to 74.6 ± 1.1% ( P = 0.01) and from 59.8 ± 1.0 to 56.6 ± 0.3% ( P = 0.002), and the minimum VMCA increased from 54.0 ± 0.5 to 57.2 ± 0.5 cm/s ( P = 0.0001) and from 53.9 ± 0.5 to 57.1 ± 0.3 cm/s ( P = 0.0001) for the [Formula: see text]- VMCA and [Formula: see text]- VMCA curves, respectively. Cerebral oxygen extraction increased from prehypoxia 0.22 ± 0.01 to 0.25 ± 0.02 in minute 6 of the first hypoxia bout, and remained elevated between 0.25 ± 0.01 and 0.27 ± 0.01 throughout the fifth hypoxia bout. These results demonstrate that cerebral vasodilation combined with enhanced cerebral oxygen extraction fully compensated for decreased oxygen content during acute, cyclic hypoxemia. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Five bouts of 6-min intermittent hypoxia (IH) exposures to 10% O2 progressively reduce arterial oxygen saturation ([Formula: see text]) to 67% without causing discomfort or distress. Cerebrovascular responses to hypoxemia are dynamically reset over the course of a single IH session, such that threshold and saturation for cerebral vasodilations occurred at lower [Formula: see text] and cerebral tissue oxygenation ([Formula: see text]) during the fifth vs. first hypoxia bouts. Cerebral oxygen extraction is augmented during acute hypoxemia, which compensates for decreased arterial O2 content.

Journal Reference:

Liu X, Xu D, Hall JR, et al.  Enhanced cerebral perfusion during brief exposures to cyclic intermittent hypoxemia.  J Appl Physiol.  2017;123(6):1689-1897.


Q&A: Why Do I Struggle with Forearm Balance?

Iyengar Yoga instructor Lisa Walford explains the strength, flexibility, and actions necessary for Pincha Mayurasana.

Q: I have been doing yoga for four years and still can't do an elbow balance. I collapse by going forward until my head hits the wall. I don't feel it is lack of strength as I can do Headstand and Handstand. ——Shirley Mahoney

Lisa Walford's reply:

In Adho Mukha Vrksasana (Handstand), you have a longer fulcrum from the hand to the shoulder, so you can depend on momentum to kick up. In Sirsasana (Headstand) you have a broader base with the forearms and the crown of the head on the floor, so the shoulder muscles get additional support from the upper back muscles, which makes it easier to get up. But keep in mind that even if you can get up in Headstand, the integrity of alignment in the neck can be severely compromised if there is inadequate lift in the armpit and instability in the shoulder girdle. How you get up is as important as being there!

In Pincha Mayurasana (Forearm Stand or Elbow Balance), the actions required of the shoulder are confined to a smaller area, which challenges the flexibility and stability of the shoulder girdle directly. When viewed from the side, the optimal placement should be an even column from the base of the pose through the upper arm, armpit, shoulder, torso, pelvis, and legs. That is, the pose should not collapse in the armpits and then compensate by bending in the low back. Sound familiar--the banana shape?

From your hands and knees, face a wall and place your forearms on the floor. Place a belt or strap just above your elbows so that your forearms remain parallel to each other and shoulder-width apart. Set a block between your hands. These props will help you keep the chest open when you kick up. They'll also help you to get the stability you need from the serratus anterior, a key muscle that attaches the shoulder blades to the back ribs and from which you can properly distribute weight through the shoulder girdle into the back.

Also seeBuild a Forearm Balance

Keep your shoulders in a vertical line directly above the elbows, draw the shoulder blades onto your back, and straighten your legs. You will be in a shortened Downward-Facing Dog with your forearms on the ground. While pressing down into the elbows and the forearms, draw your upper back (the thoracic spine) in toward the chest and slowly walk your feet toward your hands until you get a vertical lift from the elbows all the way up through the shoulders, ribs and waist. Stay in this preliminary stage for several breaths to reinforce the stability and length in the shoulders and armpits. If you have the flexibility in the upper back and the armpits can yawn and open, then bring one leg slightly in front of the other and kick up.

While kicking up, maintain the 90-degree angle between the forearm and the upper arm by pressing the center of the forearm into the floor and lifting the upper arm off the forearm. This will help keep you from collapsing toward the wall.

By setting up properly and carefully studying how you go into a pose, you will better identify what needs strength or stability and where you need to elongate and open. Like pruning a garden and watching it flourish, practice with vigilance and you will find that your yoga will become more refined.

Also tryKino MacGregor's Pincha Mayurasana Sequence

Lisa Walford is a senior intermediate Iyengar Yoga instructor and has been teaching for more than twenty years. She is one of the directors of the Teacher Training Program at Yoga Works, in Los Angeles. She has served on the faculty of the 1990 and 1993 National Iyengar Yoga Conventions and studies regularly with the Iyengars.


African Dust

Saharan dust can affect hurricane activity in several ways:

2) The Saharan Air Layer (SAL) is a layer of dry, dusty Saharan air that rides up over the low-level moist air over the tropical Atlantic. At the boundary between the SAL and low-level moist air where the trade winds blow is the trade wind inversion--a region of the atmosphere where the temperature increases with height. Since atmospheric temperature normally decreases with height, this "inversion" acts to but the brakes on any thunderstorms that try to punch through it. This happens because the air in a thunderstorm's updraft suddenly encounters a region where the updraft air is cooler and less buoyant than the surrounding air, and thus will not be able to keep moving upward. The dust in the SAL absorbs solar radiation, which heats the air in the trade wind inversion. This makes the inversion stronger, which inhibits the thunderstorms that power a hurricane.

3) Dust may also act to produce more clouds, but this effect needs much more study. If the dust particles are of the right size to serve as "condensation nuclei"--centers around which raindrops can form and grow--the dust can act to make more clouds. Thus, dust could potentially aid in the formation and intensification of hurricanes. However, if the dust acts to make more low-level clouds over the tropical Atlantic, this will reduce the amount of sunlight reaching the ocean, cooling the sea surface temperatures and discouraging hurricane formation (Kaufman et al., 2005.)

The summertime dust that affects Atlantic tropical storms originates over the southwestern Sahara (18° - 22° N) and the northwestern Sahel (15° - 18° N) (Figure 1). The dust that originates in the Southwest Sahara stays relatively constant from year to year. However, the dust from the northwestern Sahel varies significantly from year to year, and understanding this variation may be a key factor in improving our forecasts of seasonal hurricane activity in the Atlantic. The amount of dust that gets transported over the Atlantic depends on a mix of three main factors: the large scale and local scale weather patterns (windy weather transports more dust), how wet the current rainy season is (wet weather will wash out dust before it gets transported over the Atlantic), and how dry and drought-damaged the soil is. The level of drought experienced in the northwestern Sahel during the previous year is the key factor of the three in determining how much dust gets transported over the Atlantic during hurricane season, according to a January 2004 study published in Geophysical Research Letters published by C. Moulin and I. Chiapello. In 2012 (Figure 2), precipitation across the northwestern Sahel was much above average, which should result in less dust than usual over the Atlantic during the 2013 hurricane season.

The future of African dust: highly uncertain
A September 2013 paper in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society by Joseph Prospero and Olga Mayol-Bracero, "Understanding the Transport and Impact of African Dust on the Caribbean Basin," discusses the large uncertainties on how African dust may change due to climate change. Over the past decade, there has been no clear relationship between African dust and climate indices such as rainfall in the Sahel or the El Niño/La Niña cycle, which "makes it difficult to predict how dust emissions and transport might change over the coming decades as climate changes. The problem is exacerbated by the inability of models (IPCC 2007) to agree on future rainfall trends over large areas of North Africa (including the Sahel) that are known to be major dust sources today and in the recent past."

Saharan Air Layer Analysis from the University of Wisconsin

Atlantic dust forecast from the Tel-Aviv University Weather Research Center

The Saharan Air Layer (SAL) was first described in 1972, in this classic paper: Carlson, T. N., and J. M. Prospero (1972), The Large-Scale Movement of Saharan Air Outbreaks over the Northern Equatorial Atlantic, Journal of Applied Meteorology, 11(2), 283-297

West Africa (Sahel) Accumulated Precipitation Actual vs. Normal Daily Precipitation (mm) Last 365 days. African rainfall climatology

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